What are the odds?
by Writing Tired
Summary: What are the odds that Mike survives 353 days without El? Warning: Suicidal thoughts and actions


Hello!

This is my first story on this new account(my old one was getting too cluttered with stuff I was never going to work on again, but I didn't want to delete anything). I've been reading Stranger Things fanfiction for months now, so now I'll be posting some of my own. Naturally, I had to start with something terribly sad because I just hate myself that much.

I've seen a lot of good dark fiction about Stranger Things, so I thought I'd try my hand at it too. Any similarities to other stories are purely coincidental, I have a deranged enough imagination to put this all together myself. If you're looking for other good dark fiction, I'll put a list of similar-themed stories at the bottom.

Without further delay, please enjoy! Or cry! Or both!

* * *

The wind blows hard around the quarry, whipping Mike's jacket open. He sits on a big damp rock, precariously close to the edge of the cliff, the same one he'd jumped off once in his life already. His bike is carelessly dropped on the other side of the stone.

The one where El had saved him from dying once already.

"Hey El," He murmurs into his supercom, listening to the static for a response, and then continuing when none if forthcoming. "It's March 9th today, day 119, about 4:40. I know it's earlier than I normally call, but please, if you're out there at all, just give me a sign."

He lets the static buzz out again, a hollow sense of hope in his chest.

"It's been a tough few months without you, El," He continues, tugging his sleeves further down against the wind. "Things at school aren't going too great, which means my parents are mad at me now. They never got to meet you, though..."

He trails off when fresh tears pool in his eyes so he can't see, quickly spilling down his face despite his best efforts.

"I know it's a long shot," He whispers into the radio. "But maybe..."

Wiping his tears away Mike stuffs the supercom into his backpack again, shrugging off his jacket and shivering a little in the wind. He takes the calculator watch off of his wrist as well, shoving them both into his bag before zipping it up.

He steps toward the edge.

XxX

What are the odds?

In 1984, the odds of a person committing suicide(in the United States) were 0.0001154, or 11.54 in every 100,000 people.

Roughly translated, that amounts to 27,211 suicides out of a total population of 235.8 million people.

The last(actual) suicide in Hawkins, Indiana, was in the fall of 1961.

XxX

El's feet are crossed underneath her, flipping through channels on the tv with her mind as she waits for Hopper to come back. He'd said he would get off early today so they could watch a movie together, and when she glances at the clock it reads 4-4-0. Still twenty minutes until he said he would be back.

When the channels turn to static El sighs, and then grabs her blindfold. She'd been practicing this for the last few months, checking on Mike once or twice a day. He should be out of school by now, which leaves El curious what he's doing. It's a while before their normal time, at least what's _become_ their normal time.

Whereas she used to need the whole sensory deprivation pool for what she wants to do, now it just takes a few minutes of concentration. A small bead of blood runs down from her nose as she enters the void.

 _"It's been a tough few months without you, El,"_ Mike is saying when the image forms out of the nothingness, the quarry where she'd broken that bully's arm. She notices him tugging at his sleeves, something he'd been doing a lot more frequently of late, and takes special note of how sad he looks today. _"Things at school aren't going too great, which means my parents are mad at me now. They never got to meet you, though..."_

"Mike..." She murmurs, wishing she could reach out to touch him without the image falling apart.

Her ability to do this is both a blessing and a curse, because while she gets to see Mike whenever she wants, she can't do anything to help him.

 _"I know it's a long shot,"_ He whispers into the radio, drawing El's attention off her own thoughts again. _"But maybe..."_

That tone is weird, not like the one he normally uses when she checks on him. It makes a knot form in her stomach for reasons she can't explain.

She watches as he starts stuffing things in his backpack, as if he's going to leave, but then why would he take off his jacket? Her pulse quickens as he slowly steps toward the edge of the cliff, the same one she'd saved him from when the bully had made him jump in November. A few loose pieces of wet gravel fall from under his feet when he stands at the edge. With the wind and the slippery surface together, she knows he's in danger by standing there.

"Mike," She says aloud, wanting to reach out and touch him, to pull him back from the edge before anything happens where she can't save him again.

 _"I can't keep doing this, El, I just can't,"_ Mike says, his voice as downtrodden and broken as she's ever heard it. _"Maybe we can finally be together again..."_

He looks down at the sheer drop in front of him, tears slowly but steadily streaming down his face and falling onto his signature striped shirt.

"Mike!" She shouts to the empty cabin, rushing forward in the void. Her hand passes straight through him, and the image starts to dissolve into mist. "Mike!"

She puts every ounce of power she can into her voice, the entire cabin rattling around her, and the lights flickering above her, the trickle of blood from her nose turning into a stream, though she doesn't notice any of it.

Mike stops, his image already half gone, his foot poised over the cliff for the one-step shortcut to the bottom.

 _"El...?"_ He whispers, his voice tinged with a new hope he can't seem to believe.

It takes everything El has to stop the image from dissolving altogether, and she can feel the blood pouring down over her lips. Mike seems frozen in place for a while, his eyes searching the quarry around him for her.

And then his foot moves back.

El almost starts to cry then and there. She doesn't know how she did it, or if she could ever do it again, but it had worked. Mike had stopped, for now he's safe.

And then the rocks underneath him crumble under his weight and collapse

"NO!" El screams as Mike starts to fall, the chunks of rock he'd been standing on falling just ahead of him. Mike doesn't even scream, still seemingly frozen even as he plummets toward the water.

XxX

What are the odds?

The average person has about a 50% chance of surviving a fall from around 50 ft.

That percentage drops to about 2% from around 100 ft.

The fall from Sattler's Quarry to the water is between 200 and 250 feet depending on what part of the rim you're on.

Falling into water from any great height is the same as falling onto solid concrete, guaranteed to break every bone in your body.

XxX

El tears off the blindfold, her body moving before she even tells it to. Without any regard to the blood on her face, to Hopper's rules, or to her existence being a secret from the rest of the world, she flings the door open and starts to run.

While she had only walked it once, with Hopper, she remembers the trail pretty well, flying over the tripwire and down into the woods. Her feet pound on the leaf cover, her flannel shirt whipping around her in the cold wind.

At the bottom of the path she starts to run down the dirt road, not really knowing where she's going, just knowing that she needs to get to the quarry.

Her heart pounds in her chest, as if it's going to break out of her body. The image of Mike falling toward the water plays over and over in her mind.

When Hopper's Blazer pulls down the road in front of her she almost feels a pang of guilt for leaving the cabin. She's breaking every single one of his rules. As the car comes to a screeching halt, Hopper's door flying open as he gets out, equal parts angry and surprised, she almost considers apologizing.

Almost.

"What the hell is going on?" Hopper demands as she runs toward him.

"M-Mike," She stammers breathlessly, winded from running the whole way after doing so little for months. "Quarry, rocks, fell-"

"Stop," Hopper orders, holding her shoulders before she can start to hyperventilate, his expression softening from his angry glare. "Take a breath, and then tell me what's wrong."

It takes her a few tries to actually down a few breaths of air, trying not to start sobbing, or screaming, or both at once.

"Mike was at the quarry," She tells him, her voice still quavering. "And he was near the edge, and then everything just fell, and he fell too."

Her voice breaks off again as she starts to cry in earnest. Hopper's eyes widen at her explanation.

"Get in the car," He says, gently pushing her toward the other side. She wipes her tears on her sleeve, stumbling to the door and getting in.

Hopper throws the Blazer in reverse before her door is even closed, turning on the siren and kicking up dirt as he backs down the road at full speed. He's barely in the road again when he puts it in drive and peels away.

"This is Chief Hopper, I need an ambulance to Sattler's Quarry," He calls into the radio. "Possible fall into the water."

There's a few seconds of static as he waits for confirmation, the only other sounds being the engine and El's sobbing. While the blood has stopped flowing from her nose, it's starting to congeal and dry on her face, mixing with her tears.

"Roger Hop, ambulance is on its way," Flo calls back. "Fire department is on its way too for rescue."

With that the radio goes silent and Hopper glances over at the girl next to him. She's curled into a ball on the seat, knees hugged to her chest, blood caked on her face, crying into her knees.

"We'll find him," He promises, wishing he could tell her it would be alright.

Unfortunately, he knows the odds of surviving that kind of fall. Whether they get there in the next few minutes or not, the fall is over 200 feet.

He doesn't say any of this out loud, not when he knows how important seeing Mike again is to El. Instead he just floors it to the quarry, almost clipping two cars that don't pull to the side of the road fast enough.

The Blazer comes to another screeching halt near the edge of the water, the same place they'd pulled out the fake body only a few months ago. El is out before the car even fully stops, running to the edge of the water, Hopper racing to catch up.

"Mike," She whispers, searching the dark water for any sign of the boy.

The quarry is eerily silent though, not even a bird chirping to be heard.

Fresh tears well up in El's eyes, streaming down her cheeks and onto the overalls Hopper had gotten for her. Mike can't just be gone, not after everything they'd been through together...

Could he?

Memories flash in her mind, from the first time the boys had shone flashlights on her in the woods, to when Mike had showed her how the comfy chair worked, or how his dinosaur could roar...

Putting Nancy's makeup on her...

When he said she looked pretty even without the wig...

Every time he'd given her a ride on his bike...

The time when he'd kissed her in the cafeteria...

The time she'd had to say goodbye to protect him from the monster...

Every night that he'd called her, asking for a sign...

If only she'd given him a sign, if she'd told Hopper to screw the rules and bring her to Mike. Maybe then, none of this...

"There," Hopper says, snapping her out of her thoughts. Her eyes snap to his finger, following it across the quarry to a little outcropping of rock, just above the surface of the water.

Half his soaked body laying on it, the other half still in the water, is Mike Wheeler. Whether he'd pulled himself out of the water, or if he'd impacted on the rock, is a different question...

Without another thought she focuses across the quarry, blood already pouring out of her nose again, as well as her ears. While she starts to feel a little light headed from the loss of blood in such a short time, it doesn't even come close to concerning her once she sees Mike in person.

She sets him down close by, falling to the ground next to him. Her hands fly to her mouth at the sight of him, wet and broken, not moving. His face has a bunch of little cuts on it, as do his hands and any other exposed skin. Hopper rushes around to the other side, checking the boy's pulse and breathing, muttering a curse under his breath when he can't find either.

He starts compressions immediately, his hands making a small squelching noise against Mike's wet shirt. The boy's chest has just a little _too_ much give for Hopper's liking.

"Hey, El," He says, not stopping to look up. "I know you're exhausted, and you've probably lost a lot of blood, but I _need_ your help."

She stares at him woozily, not fully comprehending his words as she watches him perform CPR. Every odd, unnatural, curve of Mike's body stands out in detail underneath his wet clothes, clinging tightly to his form.

"When I tell you to, I need you to breathe into his mouth, as much air as you can" He continues, counting under his breath. "Can you do that?"

El just blinks woozily a few times, wondering if she'd heard him correctly. Was he really asking her to put her mouth and Mike's together? Under different circumstances she might have blushed at the idea.

"Can you do that?" He asks again, snapping her back to reality again, sounding a lot more intense than the first time. El nods her head, not trusting herself to speak without getting dizzy. "...eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Now, do it now."

She doesn't have to be told twice, taking a deep breath, leaning down, and pushing as much air into Mike's mouth as she can. She sways a little more when she sits up, her vision going in and out of focus. Hopper resumes his compressions, starting his count again. El grimaces a little when she sees the blood she'd smeared on his face.

She wipes it away gently with her sleeve, wiping at her own face with the other. When Hopper instructs her to do it again, there's much less left behind.

Her heart skips a beat, or five, when Mike finally coughs, water coming out of his mouth. Hopper turns him on his side, and El stumbles back just in time before Mike vomits water.

The boy weakly rolls onto his back again once he's done, blearily looking around until his gaze finally rests on El. Then he smiles.

"I knew...I heard you..." He murmurs before his eyes close again.

"Mike," She says, her eyes going wide as she rushes back to his side.

"He'll be fine," Hopper assures her before she can start shaking the boy. "He's exhausted, and so are you. I need you to get back in the car, get in the back seat, and stay down. I promise I'll bring you to see him soon, but right now he needs to go to the hospital, and you can't go there with him."

El looks like she wants to protest, until she hears the sirens in the distance. With a last look at Mike, tucking some of his wet hair behind his ear, she goes back to the car, collapsing on the floor of the back seat where she won't be seen.

Hopper, meanwhile, checks Mike over for any injuries the paramedics need to know about. He finds more injuries than he can identify, or even count. It takes him another second to realize that he should wipe the blood away from the boy's mouth. None of his injuries would explain it being there, numerous though they are.

"They are not supposed to bend that way," He mutters, seeing the unnatural curve of Mike's legs, and arms, through his wet clothes.

Still, the boy should count himself lucky. A two hundred foot drop normally means certain death. For him to survive at all...

When the ambulance and firetruck pull up alongside the Blazer Hopper stands up, ushering the EMTs over with the stretcher.

"How the hell did he get all the way over here?" One of the firemen asks as the two paramedics set the stretcher up next to Mike. "He'd have to swim, regardless of where he fell. There aren't any currents that could have carried him."

"I don't know how," Hopper answers, bigger concerns on his mind. "Maybe it was adrenaline? You know, fight or flight instinct kicking in?"

"Still, for a kid this scrawny..." Another fireman responds. "From the looks of those legs, he wasn't kicking all that strong, if he could at all. And his arms are practically toothpicks, broken ones at that. Did you check if there were any cars around when you got here?"

"I was a little busy at the time," Hopper retorts dryly. "How about we just be happy that the kid isn't dead?"

While he says it to the firemen, it's mainly directed at himself. An icy feeling of guilt permeates his veins even as the paramedics load him into the ambulance.

The Chief can guess why Mike had been standing so close to the edge in the first place, and if what El had told him in her panic had been true, this might have happened either way, just without anyone coming to the rescue. And the only reason he would have been about to do it is because he thought El was gone.

When she's been with Hopper the whole time.

Maybe ignoring El's pleas to see Mike and hoping they stop isn't as good a strategy as he thought. It may be keeping her safe, for now, but if it leads to this...

"Chief?"

Hopper is jarred out of his guilty thoughts by one of the paramedics.

"What?" The Chief asks, looking around. The firemen had gone back to their truck and were getting set to leave again.

"He's relatively stable for now, we're going to take him to the hospital," The man in front of him says, probably repeating himself. "Are you going to meet us there?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you there," Hopper replies, still a little out of it. "I just have to take care of a few things first."

The man nods, running back over to the ambulance and getting the the driver's seat. They're the first ones to leave the scene, followed by the firetruck. Hopper takes another few minutes to get back in the Blazer.

El is asleep in the backseat, blood still caked on under her nose and around her mouth. Now comes the hard part, how to get her into the hospital to see Mike, because if he doesn't she'd just go anyway without him.

And someone needs to tell Mike's family.

"Flo, come in Flo," He calls into the radio.

"Loud and clear, Hop," She says back. "How'd it go?"

"Everything's fine, the ambulance is on the way to the hospital," He reports. "I need you to call the Wheeler family and tell them to meet me at the hospital."

"Wheeler?" Flo questions. "As in Karen and Ted Wheeler?"

"Yes, them," Hopper answers as he starts up the car again. "I'll be there soon to explain, just make sure they know that their son is headed to the hospital."

"Roger that, Hop," Flo responds, and then the radio cuts out.

Hopper lets out a pent up sigh and rests his head on the steering wheel. Right now it's just a question of who murders him first.

Mrs. Wheeler will want to know what happened, which means explaining some not-so-nice things to her. And that's without the government secrets, if she knew those he'd already be dead.

Joyce will probably kill him for keeping El a secret, especially with how well she knows the boys. He hadn't wanted to put anything else on her plate after she'd finally gotten Will back, but now he'll have to pay the price.

El might be the one to murder him, if she thinks this happened because of his rules, which honestly it had. He'd been hoping she would let the whole 'I have to see Mike' thing go after a while, but no such luck. It'll be a wonder if she ever leaves his room in the hospital once he gets her there.

In all honesty, it could be Mike. Despite his exhaustion and broken bones, he might just find enough strength to murder Hopper for keeping El hidden away for the last few months. And based on the day's events, he'd be justified.

These thoughts all swirl in his mind as he drives, and it takes him a little while to realize where he's going. It's not like he has any other choice at this point, but he still feels apprehensive to drag Joyce back into the thick of this.

His apprehension grows when he sees the pile of bikes outside by the porch. In all of this he hadn't even considered Mike's other friends.

Add three more to the list of people that might kill him by the end of they day.

He leaves the engine running, knowing he doesn't have nearly as much time to explain as he needs.

Joyce opens the door before he even gets close, and he catches four sets of curious eyes on the other side before she closes it behind her. He'd almost forgotten the older of the Byers boys.

"Hopper, what's going on?" She asks as he approaches.

"Joyce, I don't have any time to explain anything right now, but I will, I promise," He says, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Did something hap-"

"Yes, something happened. Something...very not good," He tells her. "I'll explain it later. For right now, I need you to watch her."

"Her?" Joyce questions, looking between Hopper and the truck in confusion.

"Eleven," Hopper answers, and Joyce gasps a little in shock.

With that Hopper strides back to the Blazer, shifts the passenger seat, and hoists El up off of the floor.

"Mike..." She murmurs in her sleep, her head lolling to the side as Hopper carries her back over to Joyce.

"I have to go meet Mike's parents at the hospital, so I need you to watch her," He explains in as few words as possible. "Try to clean her up, I'll call you as soon as I can. If she wakes up and tries to leave, you need to stop her."

"What?" Joyce asks, beyond the point of confusion as he passes El to her. She struggles a little under the girl's weight, but doesn't drop her. Hopper gives the girl a last look before tearing himself away and going back to his truck. "What do you mean about Mike's parents? Hop? Hopper!"

Her shouts fall on deaf ears as Hopper gets back in the Blazer and peels away.

Joyce almost drops El in shock when the door opens behind her, the boys rushing out now that Hopper's gone. Lucas and Dustin help carry her inside, pestering Mrs. Byers with a thousand questions a minute.

XxX

What are the odds?

People have survived drops far greater than 200 feet, but there is no definitive cause as to why. All data indicates that they should have been dead on impact, rupturing internal organs, damaging or severing the spinal cord, extreme head trauma, dozens of broken bones...

And yet, miracles happen, even when the odds are against us...

XxX

"Any idea how long he was out there for, Chief?" The doctor asks as they wait for Mike's parents.

The boy himself is asleep with enough anesthesia in him to last another few hours. He'd started waking up once the paramedics got him to the ER, and it had taken more anesthesia than expected to knock him out again.

"Less than an hour, I can say for sure," Hopper responds. "Beyond that, I don't know. I saw his bike and backpack as I was driving by, and the stone by the edge looked fresh, like it hadn't been exposed before."

"It's a miracle if anything," The doctor mutters. "I've never heard of anyone surviving a fall over two hundred feet without special gear or training."

Hopper opens his mouth to reply, but closes it again when he catches sight of the Wheelers running in from rather, Karen and Nancy are running, Ted is ambling along behind them. Holly doesn't have to run, held tightly in Nancy's arms with a little stuffed bunny.

By the way they're dressed, they'd either been out somewhere or getting ready to go out somewhere. That explains why it took them so long to get here.

"Where's my son?!" Karen demands as soon as she's through the door, making a beeline for the Chief and the doctor.

Nancy looks expectantly at the Chief once she sees him. Hopper adds another name to the list of his potential killers.

"Mrs. Wheeler, I presume?" The doctor greets, taking a silent cue from Hopper, extending a hand to the distraught woman. "My name is Dr. Oliver Orman, I performed the surgery on your son, Michael."

"Surgery?" Karen exclaims, absently shaking the man's hand, her eyes moving between the doctor and the chief. "What happened? Where is he?"

"He's resting now, Karen," Hopper tells her as calmly as he can. "He's going to be fine, so this will all be easier if we all take a breath, and stay calm."

"My son in in the hospital and you want me to stay calm!" Karen retorts, as if she can't believe what she's hearing. "Your secretary didn't tell us anything, what the hell happened?!"

"Mom!" Nancy shouts, getting her mother's attention. "You're scaring Holly."

Said little girl looks ready to start crying from all the raised voices, clutching her bunny tightly. Ted looks about as ready to take a nap as always.

Karen Wheeler takes a breath, and then takes her youngest daughter from her oldest, trying her best to calm her down again.

"Maybe we should speak over there, so you can sit down," Dr. Orman suggests, gesturing to a cluster of chairs off to the side of the entranceway.

Karen just nods, leading her family to sit down. The doctor picks up a file from the reception desk he and Hopper had been waiting by, and the two go to join them.

"I will allow Chief Hopper to explain the details of what happened," Dr. Orman starts. "I'll just be explaining his injuries before that, in case you have any questions for me."

When none of the Wheelers say anything he takes that as the cue to begin. He opens the file, removing several x-ray prints.

"These first ones are from when he was brought in," The doctor explains. "As you may see, Michael suffered significant damage and strain to his entire body. He dislocated several toes, sprained both ankles, as well as his right knee, and dislocated the left altogether. His left leg had suffered an oblique compound fracture, and his right a comminuted fracture, though it was stable so it won't require any pins or screws. Thankfully he hasn't damaged his growth plates."

He points to different parts of each x-ray as he speaks, though nobody really understands the technical language he uses.

"He has similar breaks to both his left and right radius and ulna," Dr. Orman continues. "Five of his ribs are cracked, and three more are stressed. Understandably, there has been strain to his spine amongst this, but no permanent damage at this stage. We'll have to monitor him for swelling in the spinal column in the next few days. He sustained minor lacerations to his face, neck, and hands, the areas of exposed skin. His elbows and wrists underwent similar strain to his ankles and knees, with multiple sprains and dislocations. Multiple contusions on different parts of his body, and a substantial concussion."

Karen and Nancy both look ready to cry as Dr. Orman pulls out the next set.

"These are from after the surgery," He tells them. "Everything has been set back into place, as it should be. He'll have to wear a cast on each leg and arm for a few weeks, to keep them immobilized so they can heal. Michael should make a full recovery from these injuries, but I must stress that he _can not_ undergo any kind of physical strain until then or there may be complications."

"Thank god," Karen murmurs, hugging her youngest daughter tightly against her.

"You said _these_ injuries," Nancy says, not quite as relieved as her mother. "Are there other injuries he has?"

Dr. Orman looks down at the question. Subjects like these are never easy to tell a family about, especially after the other news they'd been given already.

"During our examination, we came across...scars..." The doctor starts, trying to choose his words carefully.

"Scars?" Karen asks, her relief draining away again, leaving her face white as a sheet. "Scars from what?"

"On his wrists and forearms," Dr. Orman says as gently as possible. "We counted eleven on each arm, some of which are still healing."

Karen's hand that isn't holding onto her daughter flies to her mouth, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. Both of Nancy's are covering her face, trying to hide the fact that she's crying from her little sister.

And Ted...

Well, Ted manages a concerned frown.

"I'll leave the explanation to Chief Hopper from here out," Dr. Orman tells them after almost a minute of stunned, agonizing, silence. "If you need anything, I'm on call here until midnight, and the nurses can always get in contact with me."

With another moment of hesitation in case they want to ask him anything, Dr. Orman walks back to the desk, leaving the file with the x-rays.

"What happened?" Nancy finally manages to choke out.

"That's not an easy question to answer," Hopper informs her. "But I'll try my best."

"Why was he at the quarry?" Karen asks, wiping at her tears with a tissue. "He said he was going over to Will's."

"Maybe it would be for the best if Holly didn't hear all the details about this?" Hopper suggests, eyeing the little girl, and her father, warily.

"Ted, can you take Holly to get a snack?" Karen replies, giving her husband a pointed look. "Please."

Ted sighs and stands up, and Karen sets Holly down to walk with her father. He almost walks away before remembering to take her hand first.

Once they're gone Hopper's expression turns a lot more serious.

"Karen, there are things I'm going to tell you that you can never talk about to another living person, ever." He starts, checking around them again just to be sure. "This information is highly classified, and if they find out I'm telling you, then we're all going to be in deep shit."

"What?" The distraught woman responds. "What does this-"

"I need your word," Hopper insists. "Not a single soul, not even your husband."

"Yes, yes, fine, just tell me," She says in frustration.

Hopper sighs as well, checking their surroundings again.

"Nancy already knows all of this because she was there. Last fall, when Will went missing, he didn't get lost in the woods," Hopper continues, his eyes rarely staying in one place as he speaks. "His disappearance, and the number of government people around Hawkins, were connected. Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, the boys, and I got mixed up in whatever their plan was when Will disappeared, and they've been monitoring us ever since."

"I still don't see how-"

"Mom, you need to let him finish," Nancy interrupts, trying and failing to hold back more tears as the memories from the fall come back to her. "Please."

Karen's response dies in her throat when she sees the state her daughter is in.

As Hopper tells the tale of that fateful week in November, Karen's eyes widen in shock and disbelief. Especially the part about El living in her basement.

When he finishes, ending with getting Will back from the Upside Down, she looks from Hopper to Nancy and back again, waiting for one of them to start laughing or something. There's no way it could all be true, right?

"And so, this girl..." Karen starts, trying to make some sense of what she'd heard.

"El," Hopper supplies, mainly glad the woman isn't screaming at him yet.

"She and Mike were...close?" The mother continues. "And that's why he's been so upset since November?"

"That's one way of putting it," Hopper murmurs, thinking back to all the nights when El would keep him up asking about Mike.

"And... and the scars?" She asks. "And the quarry? Because she's gone?"

"That's what it looks like," The chief answers, clenching his hands together before having to tell them the worst bit. "He thought she was gone forever. I've been there before, after Sara, and it's not a good place. Just about anything seems better than how it feels, even physical pain, or just feeling nothing at all."

Both of the Wheeler women start to tear up again at his explanation, each of them mentally beating themselves up for not seeing it in Mike. For months he's needed them, and they couldn't even see how badly he was hurting.

"And it's my fault," Hopper says, looking down at the floor as he tries to stave off his own tears, ones that he knows he doesn't deserve. "It's all my fault."

"Hopper, no," Karen assures him, wiping at her eyes again. "From what you said, you did everything you could to protect them."

"That's the problem," Hopper retorts dryly. If the women in front of him were beating themselves up, he was giving himself the worst beat down of his life. "I did too much, and it lead to this."

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asks, accepting a fresh tissue from her mother in place of her sleeves.

"El isn't gone," He answers, ignoring their muffled gasps and bracing himself for the storm he knows is coming. The storm he knows he deserves. "Around December, after everything was finally settling down, I found her living in the woods. I have a cabin way out in the forest, one that nobody else knows about. She's been staying there until it's safe for her to leave again."

Nancy just stares at him, clutching the tissue tighter in her palm. He can't read the girl's expression, but he doesn't have to, he already knows how she's going to feel.

"But I should have known," He mutters, directed more at himself than the two in front of him. His gaze falls to the ground, unable to hold it with either of the two women. "I should have at least _checked_."

Even he, big tough Chief Jim Hopper, can't stop himself from crying. He'd taken an oath to protect and serve the people of Hawkins, and he'd failed this one so badly.

He's startled when the tissue comes into his field of vision, tracing the hand holding it back to Mrs. Wheeler.

"You did what you thought you had to," She says, though there's a hard line in her voice. "It's what all parents have to do."

He accepts the tissue gingerly. She definitely doesn't forgive him, she might never forgive him, considering what happened, but she understands. She understands that his focus was keeping El safe, no matter what, whereas her focus is on keeping her own kids safe.

Nancy is a different story though. She doesn't look at the chief or her mother, glaring at the ground hard enough to set it on fire.

"Can you tell me what happened today?" Karen asks after a little while.

Hopper takes another moment to respond.

"I only know what El told me from before we got there," He begins, not wanting to go into the details, but knowing he has to. "From what I can figure out, he was planning to jump, which is why he was on the cliff. I don't know what happened between him stepping up there and him actually falling, but El says the rocks crumbled out from under him. He didn't actually jump."

Karen bites her lower lip to keep herself from speaking, waiting for Hopper to finish his explanation.

"The odds of him surviving the fall were microscopic," Hopper continues, thinking back to his conversation with Dr. Orman. "Falling from that height would be like hitting solid concrete, and by all rights he should have broken every bone in his body when he hit the water, more than what he already did. From what we can tell, the doctor and I, the rocks fell beneath him and broke the surface, and then he hit those instead of the water directly, which is what broke both of his legs. And then the rest of him hit the water, which lead to everything else, but his force was reduced enough not to kill him," He pauses when Karen takes a sharp breath, but she doesn't say anything yet. "He would have had to hit the water in _exactly_ the right position, or else he would have smashed his spine and his internal organs, and he would have had to be relaxed to avoid dislocating his legs at the hip too, or slamming into the water at a bad angle."

Hopper pauses again when Nancy starts crying. Her mother takes her hand and squeezes it, looking for Hopper to finish.

"Nobody's been able to figure out how he's alive at all," He says. "Even with a disruption in the water, and being relaxed, and being in the right position, from over two hundred feet he shouldn't have survived." Karen ignores the tears streaming over her cheeks, even if Hopper can't. "But he did, and all we can call it is a miracle."

Karen nods, turning her attention to her daughter in earnest.

Hopper takes it as his cue to leave them alone, slowly standing and leaving them to process everything he'd told them.

Sometimes he really hates his job...

He doubles that thought when he looks outside of the hospital, seeing a crowd of familiar faces rushing toward the door. For an instant he's mad that they ignored what he told them, but it quickly gets consumed by his guilt.

The party bursts into the hospital, quickly scanning the room to find Hopper and the two Wheelers. Joyce makes a beeline for Karen and Nancy, while the boys and El rush over to him.

He raises an eyebrow at El's new clothes, an old pair of sweatpants and a hoodie with the hood pulled up. They fit her better than the ones he'd been able to find, which means they're probably Will's.

"Where's Mike?" El asks immediately, practically a demand. She's still unsteady on her feet, gripping Will's arm like a crutch.

"He's recovering from surgery in his room, probably still unconscious," Hopper answers tiredly. "You can see him when he wakes up."

El seems like she wants to argue, but Will puts a hand on her arm. She looks at him, and then lets him lead her toward the other Wheelers. None of the boys say a word to him, not that Hopper would complain about that now.

Hopper watches from a distance as the boys introduce El to Mrs. Wheeler. The woman herself looks at the girl a bit skeptically, but hugs her all the same.

"Chief Hopper?" One of the nurses at the desk calls, getting his attention. "Michael Wheeler is waking up. Dr. Orman says family members only for now."

Mike's surprises just keep coming today. The amount of anesthesia in him should have kept him out for hours longer.

"Thanks," He responds, taking a deep breath. Going back over there is the last thing he wants to do, and he's sure the feeling is mutual, but it's not fair to put himself ahead of Mike after everything.

The conversation, already hushed and muted, drops off when he walks over, and all eyes turn to him.

"Mike is waking up," He tells them. "Dr. Orman says family members can go see him now, if you want."

He doesn't stick around the group long after, staying near the edge of the room so he doesn't bother them. Karen and Nancy leave for Mike's room, on the third floor facing the parking lot.

Half an hour later, Nancy comes back down and leads El away toward the stairs. The boys all sit down, their concern for Mike and excitement for El catching up to them all at once.

On the long list of mistakes Jim Hopper has made in his lifetime, this definitely takes the number one spot.

XxX

What are the odds?

The odds of Mike committing suicide were 11.54 in 100,000.

The odds of surviving a 200 foot fall were microscopic.

The odds of El, or Mike, or any of them ever forgiving Hopper are even lower.

But then again, stranger things have happened...

XxX

Mike stares down at the dotted pattern on the hospital gown he's wearing, both of his legs suspended from harnesses so he can't move them around. It'll be a little embarrassing if anyone stands at the foot of the bed, but that isn't exactly the first thing on his mind. He can't even try to move the gown down because his arms are in casts as well.

His body feels numb and sore at the same time. He can see the casts, and to some extent he can feel the incisions they'd made to set his bones back in place. There's a constant ache behind his eyes, and his many cuts all itch just a little bit.

His mom is in one of the chairs beside the bed, only just managing to get her tears under control. He can still feel the wet spot on his shoulder where she'd been crying. Nancy had been the same way, something he wasn't exactly used to.

The last half hour had been a whirlwind for him. Waking up with tubes in his arm and braces and casts on almost every part of his body so he can't move anything. His mom and older sister rushing into the room in tears and hugging him, apologizing even. He can still feel the hugs, his ribs aching in unison.

The conversation that had followed, about the quarry, about his months of depression, about his wrists, and about El. For months he'd been hoping they never found out so the conversation wouldn't happen, and it made him feel every bit as terrible as he'd expected.

Then he'd started asking about El, and Nancy had given him what might be the best news he'd ever gotten. The girl he'd been dreaming about every night for one hundred and nineteen days is waiting for him downstairs. It's almost like a piece of his soul finally returned to his body. Nancy had gone to get her, leaving him with his distraught mother and his thoughts.

"Did you meet her yet?" He asks, his voice hoarse, breaking the silence.

His mother looks up, taking a second for the question to register in her head.

"She seems like a nice girl," Karen answers. "She really seems to care about you."

"She's the most amazing person you'll ever meet," He tells his mother, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

"Then I hope I'll get to see her more often," Karen responds, still working through everything that had happened so far.

The sound of footsteps outside draws both of their attention. Mike isn't sure which of them starts crying first, but as soon as they see each other their eyes start filling and spilling over.

Despite the painkillers making him sluggish, or the soreness in his arms and chest that the drugs just can't take away, he reaches out to hug her. He hugs her as close and as tightly as he can with the casts on his arms, the pain from his ribs dulling as soon as they touch, determined to never let go.

"I love you," He whispers, the three words that had haunted him for months. The ones he'd half known were true, but had never gotten to say.

"I love you too," She murmurs back, leaning over the bed just to hug him closer.

XxX

What are the odds?

The odds are, nothing is ever _really_ a guarantee. There are exceptions to every rule, always things that can't be explained.

So, even if the odds are a hundred to one...

A thousand to one...

A million to one...

A billion to one...

There's still the chance to be the one.

XxX

 **One year later...**

"Mike! They're here!" Karen shouts up the stairs.

The sound of feet thundering down from the second floor fills the house as Mike races to the door, flinging it wide open before the bell can even ring. Standing there, wearing the most beautiful blue and white sundress he's ever seen, is El.

They move toward each other like a magnet, each hug just as tight as their first, neither one wanting to let go of the other.

"Maybe let us in the door first?" Hopper suggests from outside.

Mike and El sheepishly separate and step inside, making room for Hopper to walk in with a case of beer under one arm and a package of burgers in his other hand. He'd been going on and on about a special recipe his grandfather had for the perfect burger, so today was judgement day for it.

He walks straight past them to the kitchen, leaving them alone by the door. The first thing El does, as she always does since they'd been reunited, is check both of Mike's wrists for cuts. There haven't ever been new ones, but she still checks every time, without fail.

And then she rewards him with a peck on the cheek, which turns his face a shade of red that would turn tomatoes green with envy.

Hand in hand they walk to the backyard, where their friends are playing some games, and their dads are discussing dad things around the grill as Hopper prepares his burgers. Holly and Erica are playing with their dolls at the table, and the moms are getting all the non-grilled food ready together.

Or the short version... everything is perfect.

* * *

Well, I liked it at least. I originally set out to write a Mike-suicide story, but it just kind of blossomed into this, and I'm happy with it.

At the very least, they got a happy ending.

I had to research the statistics for suicide in 1984, which about as uplifting as you would think. And then there was the research for the odds of surviving falls from various heights, which was better after finding some of the chance survival stories. Then I did research on the quarry itself, as to how high it is, what kind of stone is it, and how likely is that stone to shear after freezing and thawing all winter, which took forever. As for all the injuries and medical terms, I tried my best to make them believable. I did a ton of depressing research, and it's safe to say that Mike got off easy in this case(and made a full recovery).

Thanks for reading!

* * *

Now, the list of similar dark stories: WARNING- they are all sad, but a few(not all) have either a happy(ish) ending or a silver lining

Lost Your Sway and Glow- speedermeen

The Quarry - DreamersMyth27

An End to the Agony- Senatoris Imperatoria

Little White Lines- speedermeen + Sequel: Friend, Please

No More - Wandering Paladin + Sequel: Somewhere New

The World Stopped - KeepCalmandLoveStrangerThings + Sequel: Gone Gone Gone


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